From the book, “Just Write One Thing Today; 365 Creative Prompts to Inspire You Every Day” by John Gillard

Photo from: bby_ Creative Commons, Flickr   https://flic.kr/p/GFFeN

A Flame

Describe a flame from a burning candle, a fire, or a lighter.  Our minds inevitably wander when we look into a flame.  Write down your fire-inspired musings or those of an imagined character.

Anesa watched the flames dance in the fire pit as she listened to the songs of her people. The drums pounded boom boom, boom boom and she could picture their feet hitting the ground at the same time as the drummer’s hands came down. Her father had sent her to bed along with her sister, but even from their wagon, she could still see the flames moving. She could see her people moving as they prepared for a war everyone knew was coming. The fire was hot and it matched the fire they all knew was coming. Fires burned strong in the Gypsy camp where Anesa had been raised. She and her little sister had spent many a night laying in their father’s wagon as they listened to their people dancing around the fires and this night was no different. It did not matter which place they went to, the fires were always the same and the songs that accompanied the nightly dance changed only to match the mood of the people. Anesa loved her life. She had traveled on so many adventures since she was a baby, never living in the same place for more than few weeks and had seen so many of the 13 Kingdoms in their area.
From the time she was a small girl, Anesa knew she had been born to rule. Her father had told her this many times over and over again. He wanted more for her than the simple life they had as travelers, and the only way he seemed to know how to do that was to push her. Her father would give anything to see her on the throne, including her ability to have children. For that, Anesa hated him. Her people had long been punished in the Kingdom for crimes they did not always commit. They were left out of social customs and thought strange because of their wandering tendencies. King Borkossa hated her people but her father believed if he could put her on the throne, she might be able to bring peace to her people and persuade the King to pardon them. After all, her mother had not been Gypsy and with her auburn hair, the King would not suspect she was one of the Gypsies he hated. His hatred of them ran deep. It was rumored one of the Gypsy’s had stolen the Royal Scepter. Perhaps this was why a few in their camp seemed to be able to bear children more easily. If they had taken it, Anesa had never seen it but it made for some good stories.
The wandering life they had was hard but Anesa enjoyed being with the animals and working the ground daily. Her father, however, hated it and wanted so much more for his daughter. Their life was simple. Anesa and her sister Resa had been raised by their father when their mother died giving birth to Resa. The girls were close and Anesa served as a mother figure to her little sister for many years. They fell into a daily routine of caring for the horses, tending the birds they collected in the woods (for they were magic birds) and learning the art of telling fortunes to anyone who came by their camp. The men in their camp spent the days hunting in the forest, or scrounging local villages for food and items they needed while the women stayed at camp, seldom going into town. Anesa and her sister had been raised by several women in their camp while their father spent the day away and they learned to cast spells on people who might bring them harm just as well as they learned to cook. Their people were hated by many and they learned the magic they needed to survive. Magic was both a blessing and a curse though, for even though it could protect them it always came with a price.